When former General of the Southern States Army N. Forrest, who became the head - "great magician" of the Ku Klux Klan, officially disbanded it in 1869, the clan had actually already done its job. The Negro population of the South, betrayed by the northern bourgeoisie and terrorized by the clan, was forced to give up their hopes of achieving civil rights. After losing the civil war, the southern racists, using the klan (created in December 1865, that is, a few months after the surrender of the Federal army at Appomattox), tried to win another, underground war, which was aimed at perpetuating racial segregation and excluding Blacks from participation in political and social life. At the same time, the Ku Klux Klan's continued open preservation became impossible: stained with the blood of many thousands of people, it incurred the indignation of public opinion in the North and had to resort to self-dissolution. In the next half-century, an extensive literature appeared about the Ku Klux Klan. But only a small part of it told the truth about the affairs of the "knights" in white robes. . Even in the books published in the North, the activities of the kukluksklans were most often justified in one way or another. In the South, however, it was openly celebrated. T. Dixon Jr.'s novel "The Birth of a Nation", popular in the early 20th century, was a panegyric for the clan. Based on this novel in Hollywood, director D. Griffiths staged a film of the same name, released in 1915. In this film, "cavaliers" in hoods act as "champions" of virtue and the law, while Negroes are depicted as mired in all sorts of vices. The film was a resounding success in the racist South. In Atlanta, the capital of Georgia, one of the states of the "deep South", the film "Birth of a Nation" was shown every day for several months. Often in the screening room you would see a gaunt, lanky man, then unknown to anyone, an insurance salesman named W. Simmons. His pince-nez enhanced his resemblance to the ... Read more